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By the late s, Europe sat on the brink of a world war. As the holocaust approached, many Jewish families in Germany fled to one of the only open ports available to them: Once called "the armpit of the world," Shanghai ultimately served as the last resort for tens of thousands of Jews desperate to escape Hitler's "Final Solution. But instead of a storybook China, they found overcrowded streets teeming with peddlers, beggars, opium dens, and prostitutes. Amid these abysmal conditions, Ursula learned of her own resourcefulness and found within herself the fierce determination to survive.
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Lists with This Book. Apr 16, Chrissie rated it really liked it Shelves: I also highly recommend: This gives you another perspective of Shanghai during the war! Now that I have finished the book, I think I will give it 4 stars. Furthermore, I am swayed by my emotions - this book feels best as a book I "liked a lot", rather than being "amazing"! This book covers the 8 years and 3 months that the author spent as a chi ETA: This book covers the 8 years and 3 months that the author spent as a child and young adult in Shanghai, from - She grew from a precocious 10 year old to become a fully adult 18 year-old.
The book excellently covers her flight to Shanghai, life in Hongkew, life in the French Concession and finally the forced displacement back to Hongkew in , now termed "the Designated Area". Comparatively, life in the French Concession was a dream world to life as it had been on arrival and the ghetto like conditions of the "Designated Area".
As the alliance between Germany and Japan grew stronger and when finally Japan attacked Pearl Harbor, Allied businesses were closed. Americans, Englishmen, Dutch, French, Dutch, all enemies of the Japanese empire were rounded up and placed in prisoner camps. A month earlier the European Jews had been classified as "stateless citizens". They had become nonentities!
Finally in May these stateless citizens were restricted to the "Designated Area". The book details the historical facts and how they played out in Shanghai and for her family. Details is the word I must emphasize. You learn about the sanitation, or lack there of. It was filthy beyond words. I will not quote parts on this subject.
Just imagine and multiply your imagination by This is done so you truly see it. Health care is deplorable, and of course makes life precarious. There is so much that is horrendous, but the strange thing is that it is NOT a depressing book. The deplorable conditions are vividly displayed before your eyes. What makes it not depressing is the spirit of the family. Sometimes this bothered me to the point that I felt maybe she was childishly ignorant.
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That is not the explanation. The explanation is that this family and their closest friends were always aware that their conditions were so very much better than those of the Europeans in the Japanese prisoner camps and the Jews who failed to leave Europe in time. And this family set high standards. Ursula's father attracted friends like honey attracts flies. Friends you could count on. Goldberg will have to tell you again. Now listen and remember what I am telling you. Go out and make a miracle today. He can't do it all. This optimism sometimes feels jarring, but by the end of the book I felt that this IS how the author sees the world around her.
It does not reflect a childish style of writing but rather a way of looking at life. This view is mirrored in most every sentence: This is just one quip, displaying Ursula's tone, how she expresses herself. Religious themes are covered, as the child becomes a teenager and doesn't know how to deal with the horror around her.
She sees the different religions with clarity and does not hesitate to question and doubt the set views of Judaism, Lutheranism and Buddhism. As an individual she is curious and behaves in a manner beyond her years A close friendship grows between her and Yuan Lin, a Chinese Buddhist priest with a degree in economics from Harvard. He had a Chinese father and an English mother. The people you meet, the life you live through Ursula's tale are memorable.
She puts all these religious beliefs and life experiences together and come out with her own religion, one that fits her and makes her a wonderful human being.
The history and exact detail of life in Shanghai are interestingly described. The book includes marvelous photos depicting the author's life in Shanghai. They are not modern photos, but ones taken by her friends, then and there, when they lived this life! I highly recommend this book. I cannot put it down. The author, Ursula Bacon, from a wealthy Jewish, German family, tells of her experiences fleeing Germany with her mother and father in by rail from Breslau, Germany, now Wrocauw, Poland and then by steamboat traveling to far off Shanghai, one of the few spots on the earth willing to accept Jews.
They were the lucky ones endowed with money! So it was to Shanghai they were headed. Shanghai was the "armpit of the world", the "slum-scum of the Orient" or the "boil on the hide of China". She is flung from her eiderdown, luxurious quilts to rescuing her father from a German prison - alone, dragging him naked in a burlap bag out the prison gates. The tale is immediately gripping and horrifying and yet hopeful too. You understand from the first few pages what kind of a family Ursula comes from. On departure, she receives a blank diary from Maria Burdach in which she is to recount her tale: She made me promise to write everything down every day, so she could read all about our life in China.
As the oldest of the Burdach family, Maria was head housekeeper and watched over her three brothers, her two sisters, and their mates, to see that Marienhall - the home we had fled - ran smoothly. The whole family, including Grandmother and Grandfather Burdach, had been managing the estate long before my Grandfather, the Old Baron, had given it to his son.
My father always said the Burdach family had belonged to the land a heck of a lot longer than the Old Baron, and had a lot more class. The young Burdach children were my playmates on the few occasions I escaped Fraulein Amanda, and among the eight of us, there wasn't a corner of the fields or the gardens of our fairy-tale forest we didn't know. We swore, in unison, that we all had seen the "White Lady" - the sad ghost of Marienhall - float through the hallways and the attic, trailing yards and yards of a filmy silk gown - moaning and weeping. Her dark hair streamed behind her like silk ribbons as she moved lightly from room to room searching for her lost child.
Never mind what Fraulein Amanda said. We knew a ghost when we saw one. Sometimes it isn't that hard to determine right at the start if a book is going to be a winner. Perhaps I will be proven wrong, but I bet this will end up a 5 star book. View all 47 comments. I received this shopworn copy from the library today and plunged right in.
It reads like a novel! Much more will be added as I get further along, but I am "hooked"! It was especially of interest to me because my family has members who immigrated to Harbin, Chi I received this shopworn copy from the library today and plunged right in. It was especially of interest to me because my family has members who immigrated to Harbin, China from Europe during this period.
Unfortunately we have lost contact and I cannot personally add to this story. Ursula Bacon's Shanghai Diary is a memoir of her family's escape from Nazi Germany to Shanghai, from when she was just 9 years old, to Few people are aware of this refuge for approximately 18, European refugees. Bacon stated that Shanghai had always been termed "the armpit of the world, the slum-scum of the Orient and the boil on the hide of China".
Throughout her narrative, it is clear that the immigrants' lives there were far from easy, or pleasurable. They suffered much privation, including hunger, poor sanitation, overcrowding and disease. Despite all this, these refugees, who had already experienced losses of home, loved ones, cherished belongings and outrageous brutality, now felt relatively safe with great hopes for the future. Occasionally I wondered how Bacon was able to recall conversations and events with such fine detail, but the narrative was so enthralling, I concluded that it was an impressive chapter in Jewish history, nevertheless.
She did recount early in the book that she had diaries, so I believe these served her well. She interwove tales of her fellow refugees with rich details, often with harsh, painful realism, but clear and evocative.
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The environment was challenging, difficult, grim and often horrific. Sanitation was non-existent, rats ran freely, living quarters were incommodious and generally unsuited for human habitation, food was scarce,unavailable or barely palatable. Yet the survival skills of these people were innovative, remarkable and admirable. They managed to provide for themselves and others in small, meaningful ways.
Music, art and books were the inspiration to help them rise above their misery. By getting lost in the jubilant notes of a Beethoven symphony, dreaming with Shubert and Mendelsohn, living for a moment in the pages of literature, we fed on food for the spirit, even if food for the body was sparse. Their favorite entertainment was animated conversation over numerous cups of hot tea. Despite the fact that Bacon had lost her childhood, she developed in the world of adults with self-sufficiency and wisdom and an appreciation for the simple things of life and Nature.
Although quite different, this book makes me think of , Empire of the Sun. View all 22 comments. Jan 18, PDXReader rated it it was amazing. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book, and how quickly it moved along. Often first-person accounts get mired in things the author thinks is important, but which the readers really don't care that much about. Such was not the case with this book. The story was fascinating from start to finish, and I learned a bit of history about which I'd been ignorant.
Jan 23, jag rated it really liked it. Previously I had limited knowledge about the fate of German citizens who fled to China at the start of the war. Written for young adults, Bacon tells a compelling story of her life in that city, under the Chinese and then under the Japanese as they ruled China. Feb 19, Wendy rated it it was amazing. I never knew that Jews fled to Shanghai. I loved Ursala's storytelling style. It captivated the historian in me searching for how her tale fit or contrasted with other refugee narratives and WWII knowledge I had.
Her structure is easy to follow and her interwoven tales of coming of age and how their world fit into the bigger picture of history was a great balance to the real hardships she and others endured. Nov 05, Elizabeth rated it liked it. Mediocre writing, but very interesting story. After having read so many holocaust memoirs centered around Euopean refugees, it was a new perspective to see it from the Asian front. Feb 28, Monica rated it really liked it Shelves: Fascinating story about a bit of history that I knew nothing about.
Ursula Bacon was 10 in when she and her parents escaped Nazi Germany and fled to Shanghai. It was the only place left that would accept Jewish refugees, and 20, of them ended up there, leaving everything behind and trying to build a life in the Shanghai ghetto. Starting out with very little money, no knowledge of the language and customs, shocked at the level of poverty and disease, they managed to find friends, create j Fascinating story about a bit of history that I knew nothing about.
Starting out with very little money, no knowledge of the language and customs, shocked at the level of poverty and disease, they managed to find friends, create jobs, and survive. Ursula and her parents were brave,resourceful, adaptable and creative, and somehow managed to maintain a sense of humor and optimism amid the most trying circumstances. Ursula is an excellent storyteller - and what a story! At 14 she was giving English lessons to the three young concubines of an important Chinese general, learning all about the life of that household, studying martial arts, helping her father in his house painting business.
When the Japanese took Shanghai the family and friends became refugees once again, had to move from their pleasant, safe neighborhood back to a squalid ghetto. They kept up with events from the outside world with hidden radios and did what they could to support the Allies. They risked their lives to rescue and hide downed American airmen. It was not until that the family was finally able to realize the dream of moving to the US and making the new lives that they had hoped for for so long. It's a wonderful story about amazingly brave and resourceful people, Jun 16, Rea rated it liked it.
Unfortnuatley I found the writing style to be slightly repetative and infused with cliched descriptive adjectives. The tone was too child-like through-out which prevented the reader from regarding with respect and awe the author's experiences in extraodinary times. This was also aggravated by the fact that some experiences were described in a dead-pan rush which left the reader cheated think abou This book taps into an unknown but fasinating aspect of World War II, the refugee Jews in Shanghai.
This was also aggravated by the fact that some experiences were described in a dead-pan rush which left the reader cheated think about her encounter with the Japanese officer. The story-line occassionally suffered from being too literal, with sentences such as 'and then we boarded the train' being superflous. The risk with auto-biographies is that the author cannot help with hindsight to paint themselves in a better light, but luckily Ursula Bacon does not fall into this trap although she did over-use the sentence 'I've so much to learn'. It's easy to read and an honest account of extraodinary times.
Feb 17, Emma rated it it was amazing. I'm almost finished with this book and I've been enmeshed in the story. This book makes one really think about what it's like an American and how persecution existed in both China and here during the McCarthy Era. I'm really enjoying it. Aug 01, Julie rated it liked it Shelves: I learned a lot about a part of wwii I never knew existed while reading this book, but I didn't think Ursula was a very good writer.
I borrowed it from the library and someone had corrected many of her facts and claims in pencil, so she didn't seem very reliable.
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Wasn't a big fan of her style. Jan 09, April rated it it was amazing. Jan 11, Victoria Wright rated it it was amazing. Amazing but true memoir. Nov 09, Lisa rated it really liked it Shelves: Ursula was a pre-teen when she and her parents escaped from Nazi Germany in She chronicled the 6 years they lived in Shanghai. She wrote so well. The book was published in I was able to get it through Prospector.
Shanghai Diary
I am not sure how I even heard about it. She wrote in such detail. It was interesting to find that she settled in Denver. I wonder if she is still here. I appreciated hearing how the refugees held a close community, tried to bring culture and made due with Fascinating book. I appreciated hearing how the refugees held a close community, tried to bring culture and made due with terrible conditions after living in luxury in Germany. Just brought back to me the horrors of the Nazis. Yet, that horror, that evil is still alive and well on planet earth.
People still deny the Holocaust and racism is still a terrible thing in the world. May 07, Barbara Pearlman rated it it was amazing Recommends it for: In certain ways, we lived in luxury. In other ways, we lived like the Blombergs, in a country deficient in sanitation and in an apartment with freezing cold concrete floors. China is still trying to improve its inadequate bathrooms. Life was tough, but there was still culture. Dancing, which had been banned under Chairman Mao, was legalized while we were there in Immediately, Hebei University held a prom.
Dance studios opened in downtown Baoding. Five years later, I was walking past the site of the old synagogue in Tianjin, a city that like Shanghai had had a Jewish population. The Jewish community had its own cultural life: Ursula eventually married a member of the Levysohn family, also Jewish refugees. For a while she went to a Catholic school in the French Concession, where she improved her knowledge of French and English. She also learned Pidgin English, the lingua franca of Shanghai. She gave English lessons to three Chinese women.
The three young women whom Ursula taught were concubines. China in those days had very different sexual standards from what I saw in , when I found it an extremely puritanical society. I gather they have continued to change as far as sex is concerned. I have been told that there are now gay bars in China. Democracy, however, is another matter.
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At first, the Blombergs lived in a Jewish shelter, where refugees lived under harsh conditions despite contributions from wealthy Shanghai Jews and from the United States. Then they met a family and decided they could afford a room in the French Concession. They had no privacy but they did have a lavatory, which was the height of luxury.
Vati and a Chinese man established a business painting houses. Ursula got her teaching job. The family established friendships. Did they know Pearl Harbor would take place? Did they think, instead, that the Japanese would attack them in Shanghai? On February 18, , stateless Jews were ordered to live and stay in Hongkew. The Blombergs had to give up their room and buy a new one. Leaving the neighborhood required a pin, a permit, and an ID card, all of which had to be renewed regularly.
Shanghai Diary
Hours of waiting were necessary to obtain these passes. Japanese soldiers checked foreigners and jailed those who did not have proper ID. The Japanese occupation forces appointed two men, one of whom was appropriately named Goya-san, to supervise the comings and goings of the Jews.
In Europe, ghettoization was a step on the road to extermination. Hongkew, however, had many Chinese inhabitants and was not quite a ghetto. Acts of violence became increasingly common. One night, a drunken Japanese soldier tried to rape Ursula.